Thai Green Curry - 2 ways

We make different varieties of Thai curry for dinner at least a few times per week, so we buy the curry paste in large quantities. Recently we ran out of green curry paste and replenished our stock from the Asian market. I was so irritated to realize, after getting it home and cooking with it one time, that this brand contained shrimp paste! Fortunately, the market also carries a brand that is vegan and my friend Miriam was more than happy to take the other off my hands.

We generally make the curry sauce the same: green curry paste, coconut milk, a little vegetarian stir fry sauce, and a little palm sugar. Sometimes a splash of Mirin or soy, sometimes extra ginger and garlic. The veggies are typically onion, bell peppers, broccoli, zucchini, eggplant, and whatever else seems good at the time.

The most recent variations:

Red Rice and 'Veef' (vegetarian beef)

Noodles and Vegan Shrimp

Two dinners from my cast iron skillet

Last week, I made dinner two nights in my cast iron skillet and both turned out quick and delicious.

First, Sicilian Skillet Pasta Pie from Vegan Italiano. Here is the recipe. I did make a few adjustments. Because I was out of olives, I made a batch of seitan chorizo crumbles. Also, I did not have spaghetti noodles so instead I used elbow macaroni. The pieces, obviously, did not 'slice' as the recipe says they should. We spooned portions out and devoured them!

We also shredded a bit of Mozzarella Sheese on top of the monster portions.

Second, Tempeh Helper from Appetite for Reduction. Because I have never eaten real Hamburger Helper, I can't really say whether it is comparable or not. But, it was really good.  I do think I added a bit too much seasoning to my cheezy sauce because it was quite salty and a little overpowering. Here is the recipe. 

Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna

I cleaned out my freezer yesterday and found a batch of cashew cream sauce in there from...who knows when. I also had a box of lasagna noodles in the pantry, also from that time frame! So, I bought a box of garlic flavored tomato sauce (I stopped buying canned since reading this article), a bunch of fresh basil, garlic, spinach, and mushrooms. I topped the lasagna with shredded Mozzerella Sheese.

It came together in under 20 minutes, baked for about 30 and was really delicious!

Sesame Noodles with Peanut Dip and Veggies

I used a package of precooked soba noodles. They are sauteed in sesame oil. The dressing (delicious!) consists of peanuts, oatmilk, soysauce, tahihi, sesame oil, sake, maple syrup, ginger and garlic, all blended in a blender. We served it with sauteed veggies. The recipe is from Love Bites.

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Grilled Tofu

So. Good. Another score from Appetite for Reduction. The salad is topped with a Peanut-Mint Gremolata that is heavenly. The dressing is sweet and spicy with soy and lime flavors. A combination of tofu, lettuce, vermicelli noodles, veggies, and mint made this salad such a satisfying meal.